


Winter Flowers

by ghostanimal



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Rival Romance, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2019-06-14 12:23:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15388689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostanimal/pseuds/ghostanimal
Summary: Valerie was hoping that somebody would ask her to Winter Formal. She just wasn't expecting her biggest enemy to ask her. Now she's sure he's just trying to lure her into a false sense of security. But she can't let an opportunity like this slide. It was one hell of a chance to finally beat him at his own game. But is it even a game? Danny/Valerie





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is cross-posted from fanfiction

_Phantom obviously stalks or follows me,_ she wrote. Valerie shifted uncomfortably, leaning against the mop bucket in the janitor's closet, but continued to scribble in her journal/data book of Danny Phantom notes. _I suspected as much, but it's confirmed. He knows my favorite flower and that Winter Formal's coming up. He also knows that when I'm in school, especially in a crowd at school, that it's impossible for me to change. I have to find a spot and then change, and the bathrooms are always full of girls during lunch. How else would he have known that this was the perfect way and place to humiliate me._

She frowned slightly, tapping her pencil against her lips, thinking about the conversation with Star. She was positive that she had told nobody else about it.

* * *

"So, you going with Kwan?" Valerie had asked. Star nodded.

"Yeah. You wanna go dress shopping this Saturday?" Star asked. She saw Valerie's uncomfortable look, and she added in a slightly hushed tone. "I'm not Paulina, I don't care if we go to a cheaper store. Dresses are just as good there."

"It's not that," Valerie spoke up. "It just...I don't know if I'm going. I don't have a date."

"Aren't you dating that Fenton loser?" Star wondered.

"Danny's not a loser," Valerie frowned. "And no. It...didn't work out."

Star smiled apologetically, just as Danny walked past.

"Hey Valerie," he waved. He paused in front of them. "Hello Star."

Star gave a polite wave, but didn't smile. Valerie did.

"Hey Danny," she greeted. It was so weird to think that she absolutely hated this boy nearly a year ago for knocking into Paulina, causing her new shirt to be covered in coffee. Now she couldn't imagine life without him. "Are you going to the Winter Formal?"

"Uh, maybe," he said, shifting nervously from foot to foot as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's more of a formal date event rather than just go with your friends, and I'm not sure if I'm going to ask anybody."

"You know, Valerie doesn't have a date," Star suggested, giving a sly smile. Valerie and Danny flushed lightly.

"I'm sure Valerie has tons of guys trying to figure out how to ask her," he said kindly, smiling at her. "She's pretty awesome."

Valerie felt herself flush a bit more before Danny made his way to class before the bell rang.

* * *

Danny knew!

But Danny wouldn't put Phantom up to something like that. He wouldn't do that. He's such a sweetheart, and he knows how much Valerie disliked Phantom.

No. Danny didn't do it. So Phantom was acting out of his own free will.

But why?

Valerie groaned, rubbing her temples. This was _so_ Phantom. He was so hard to predict, so random and confusing. Just when she thought she figured out the weakness, it almost changed to something totally and randomly different. He was impossible to figure out. He ruins her life, then tries to be friends. He'll fight her, but in the next breath he pulls stunts like this? Was it some ploy to make him appear more human to her? Was it a trick to let her guard down? Or was he even possible trying to lure her into a trap?

Oh, Phantom would _pay_ for what he did...

* * *

Valerie had been minding her own business. She was working on her math homework while she ate her lunch outside, a leftover hamburger from last night, in hopes that if she didn't have much homework, she could have more time to hunt ghosts tonight. More time to figure out Phantom and hunt him. The thought made her cheerful.

It was snowy outside, but she had found a snow-free patch of grass under a tree. The book was in her lap, the paper on one side of the book. Pencil in right hand, left hand alternating between calculator and hamburger. She had heard some students come closer, muttering in excitement. When Valerie looked up, he was there.

Holding a small bouquet of flowers. Not just any flowers.

Light blue hibiscus.

He knew her favorite **freaking** flower, and he was holding a small group of them in front of her.

Valerie had shut her book, putting it aside next to her calculator and lunch. She stood, staring at him. Why was he visiting her at _school_? Phantom _never_ came to her, let alone at school!

It was a trap. He knew how to corner her, where she was weakest and unable to transform into her suit. This was it. He was winning.

But he handed her the flowers. She couldn't accept them. She couldn't move, do nothing but stare at him blankly. She noticed that he was lightly flushed. Valerie was going to ask, but then he spoke the words that made everybody gawk at her like some sort of freak and the words that would make her suffer the ultimate humiliation.

"I heard you have Winter Formal coming up," he spoke first. Valerie couldn't speak in shock, just nodded slowly. What was he up to?

Wait.

Was he?

He better not be.

She would make him find out what kind of life exists after the afterlife if he was doing what she thought he was doing.

"If you would like," he continued, students' jaws dropping and a few taking pictures. A circle had formed around them. "I would be honored to take you."

She wanted to **die.**

Valerie could feel the heat from her cheeks, she was so _embarrassed_. How could he _do this to her!?_ What game was he playing? Why was he toying with her!?

Why her?

* * *

Valerie chewed on the eraser before writing more down.

_Of course, I have to logically assume that perhaps he really is looking for a romantic partner. But why me? I hunt him. Well, from my studys of him, I've noticed that I am the only human girl (around his age) he talks to. As in, a real conversation. Maybe he isn't interested in ghosts._

_But I think the possibility is much more likely that he has just found the perfect way to toy with me. But I refuse to let it happen. I_ **will** _beat Phantom at his own game this time. I think I'll accept the date, then beat him to the punchline. It shouldn't be that hard. Pretend to have completely fallen for his charms, then when he thinks I believe him, destroy him. It's foolproof._

Valerie smiled in satisfaction at this idea.

"Valerie?"

She jumped upon seeing Phantom.

"How long have you been in here?" she snapped, closing the book.

"I just came in here," he replied. He handed her the flowers again. They were a little crushed from when she had finally been able to snap out of her trance, able to slap them out of his hand and run. She took them from him this time though, clutching them tightly. Her knuckles grew white from her grip. "So...would you like me to? Take you to Winter Formal?"

Valerie glanced at the ghost boy in front of her and the flowers before gazing at her book.

"No," she responded. He looked a bit crushed. "But I will allow you to take me on one date. If it goes well, we'll talk about Winter Formal."

Phantom grinned at her. Valerie smiled back slightly.

_I know what you're planning, ghost. And I will win this little game you've created._

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

The bell rang, and Phantom tensed up. Valerie did too. She had to go, but she didn't bear take her eyes off him. She didn't trust him.

"So, when's our date?" Phantom questioned. Valerie squirmed, uncomfortably, but she scowled.

"You're the one wanting to take me out!" she snapped. "You tell me!" Phantom's cheeks flushed a dark green.

"I, uh...h-how about you just give me your phone number, and I can text you?" he suggested.

"Absolutely not. Give me yours," she demanded. Phantom froze, and he began to squirm too. Part of Valerie enjoyed seeing the ghost so uncomfortable, finally out of his usual, cocky attitude towards her.

"I...don't have a phone?" he replied lamely. Valerie's eyes narrowed. This is where his game began, the lies and toying.

"Then why do you want my number?" she asked, tucking her journal under her arm.

"I was going to go and get one, then, you know, text you."

"How are you even going to get one? You're a ghost! You can't just walk into Wal-Mart and grab a cell phone off the shelf!" Valerie was already exhausted of the game. Phantom sighed, closing his eyes briefly as he thought.

"Look, forget the phone. How about we just meet? Say this Friday at eight, maybe at the park?"

Valerie closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. This was already going to be a disaster.

"Seven. Meet me at the gazebo. I will be armed, so don't try anything." Valerie opened her eyes, meeting his stare. He gave a nod.

"Okay. Friday at seven, gazebo. See you then."

Phantom did a light jerk, as if he was going to leave, but changed his mind. He glanced back at her, as if unsure of what to do. Valerie's patience was quickly wearing thin.

"What are you waiting for?" she questioned. "Go! I have to get to class!"

With a stuttered apology, the ghost left the closet. The second he left, it took Valerie everything to not fall to her knees. What had she just done? What was she going to do? There was so much preparation, so much studying. She had to figure out this game before Friday. What was his motivation for this? What was he doing? How could he do this to her? What was he think-

Riiinngg!

Oh crap! The bell!

* * *

 

_Paulina can have Phantom if she's so mad over this. It's not my fault he wants to toy with me. Why is his entire existence revolved around making my life a living hell?_

_This has to be it. I've put a line through my first theory. Phantom wanting a romantic partner. Ha! If he wanted a romantic partner, why wouldn't he pick somebody like Paulina? She's pretty and popular, and she's obsessed with him. A logical choice, no? I mean, ghost or not, Phantom is still a gross teenage boy. If he wanted a girlfriend, she'd gladly fill that role. Phantom knows I hate him. So why this? What's the point of all this? Gain my trust? Is he insane? This is the worst way to go? How stupid is he to think I'd fall for such a bad ploy? I'm almost insulted._

_Whatever. I'm writing this as a reminder to myself to remember to look up interviewing techniques. I thought about this a lot in class, and I've decided that the best course of action for this "date" would be to gather as much information as possible about my target. Assuming he doesn't lie. I need to know him. I need to understand him in order to defeat him. Maybe if I just pretend to like him, he'll open up. But it's just a trick, so can I really trust what he says? Note to also look up tips to determine if somebody is lying. Or if Mr. Masters had left me anything that can tell if a ghost is telling a lie._

Valerie sighed as she read over the reminder to herself. Her finished homework already put away and prepared to turn in the next day. She pressed the power button. As the computer roared to life, she glanced at her closet out of the corner of her eye. That reminded her...

What do you wear when on a date with the ghost that ruined your life? She reluctantly stood up, and she went over to her closet. Should she go casual, prepared to kick his butt? Or should she try and go all out to look as stunning as possible, out of pure spite? This was the start of something. She wanted to surprise Phantom. It was about time she caught him off guard for a change. Something in between the two then? What would that even consist of? What was Phantom going to wear? Was he going to just expect her to show up in her suit? God, she hated him.

She didn't know why she didn't expect a certain A lister to come storming up to her. Maybe it was just being lost in her own thoughts. After all, how often does your archenemy ask you on a freaking date?

Perfectly manicured nails grabbed Valerie's backpack, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to see Paulina, her eyes slightly red and puffy. Had she been crying? Over a ghost? Valerie wanted to roll her eyes.

"How could you do this to me?" was all she could croak out. Valerie wanted to scream.

"I didn't ask for this," Valerie replied flatly. "I didn't want this."

"What do you do that I don't? What do you have that I don't?" Paulina demanded to know. A mental image of Paulina in a hot pink version of Valerie's old suit, struggling to stay on a hoverboard while trying to work a gun, came to mind, and it cause Valerie to mentally smirk. If only she could break the reality to Paulina. He apparently likes me because I want to destroy him.

"I don't know," she lied. "And I don't care." This was true. "Now let go of me, I have class."

"NO!" Paulina shouted, her grip on the bag tightening. Tears were welling up in her eyes, threatening to ruin her makeup. People began to turn heads, and whispers began. Great. Just the cherry on top of the bad day already. How else would this nightmare go? "Val, you used to be my friend! And you go and backstab me like this? How could you do this to me? You know how much I love him! We're meant to be together!"

"I can't control him! I didn't ask for this! I don't want to go to Winter Formal with him!" Despite her words, Valerie's fist still clutched the flowers given to her. She practically shoved them into Paulina. "Here! Take it! I don't want it!"

Paulina blinked in confusion, but she let go in an attempt to catch the flowers.

"He...brought you flowers?" her voice was cracking even more, and tears did begin to pour down her cheeks. Valerie ignored her, and she rushed to her classes. Why did Phantom do this stuff to her?


	3. Chapter 3

_God I hate Phantom. Ever since his little stunt yesterday, I've yet to get a moment of peace. Star had confronted me about Phantom last night over the phone while I was trying to find something to wear. Thankfully, Star's amazing and was, annoying, really happy for me. She's the only popular kid who still talked to me after everything, and she promised to come over after school to help me pick something out. Glad at least somebody's thrilled about this._

_I haven't uttered a word about my upcoming date_ (she quickly scribbled this part out) _ **meeting** with Phantom. But everybody's been looking at me like I'm a freak. Everybody knows me already, because I did used to be popular, but most of them stopped caring or dropped me because of Phantom. Now though, because of that fucking ghost, everybody cares about me again. I found out from Star that most people were trying to call or text me again about it, but thankfully, when my cell phone got destroyed a couple months ago, again because of **Phantom** , I decided to just change my number too. _

_Worst of all, Danny hasn't spoken a word to me since Phantom approached me. Even Jazz and his friends are avoiding me. I expected Sam to, since she's always kind of disliked me, and I guess I should expect Danny to distrust me. After all, he's from a family of ghost hunters. A ghost just asked me to Winter Formal in front of my entire school. He's probably disgusted with me. I've been catching him stealing glances or looks at me, but I can never quite make out how he's feeling._

Valerie glanced up from her writing to look around her. For once in her life, she was thankful for Lancer's dictator attitude about paying attention. Nobody was looking at her. Except...

Danny immediately turned his head to the front of the classroom when he noticed Valerie had shot a look at him. His cheeks were a bit flustered, and Valerie's mind began to wonder. Was Danny jealous? She knew he still liked her, and she still cared a lot about him. Maybe...maybe when Phantom was done toying with her, and she got the information she needed to destroy him, she'd make it up to Danny by seeing if he wants to go out with her. That's assuming that he doesn't actually hate her for being around a ghost. But she's also a ghost hunter. Maybe this would be the time to tell him?

Valerie stared ahead at her teacher, pretending to be invested in the lecture but really began to space out. There was so much to prepare for her meeting with Phantom. She still had to look up interviewing techniques, as the last few attempts to interview him went wrong, and she had to play a part. She couldn't just strap him down and torture answers out of him. Well, she could, but a competitive part of Valerie really wanted to play this game. Phantom was such a mystery, and there was no guarantee that he'd tell her the answers. Their last encounter, when they rescued Dani, he did tell her he'd tell her anything in exchange for helping Dani while basically under torture. Maybe she could cash in on that favor? Or bring that up? No, maybe another time.

Gah! She was getting sidetracked! She had things she had to do before Friday rolled around, and it was already Tuesday.

She began to write a to do list.

_1\. Interview techniques!_

_2\. Take inventory of ghost hunting equipment and determine what I should bring_

_3\. Check to see if there's any tracking devices I can stick on Phantom before he leaves_

_4\. Pick out an outfit – ask Star for help_

_5\. Scout out the meeting spot beforehand to map it out and prepare for possible ambush possibilities_

_6\. Find a way to get in reliable contact with Phantom._

The bell rang, and she closed her notebook for now.

* * *

Thankfully there was private study rooms where students could get their work done in groups without disturbing the rest of the library. It was meant for groups, and individual students could use them if the library wasn't too full, but the librarian had grown to know Valerie. She had spent many lunches in the library after she lost her popularity and gained an interest in needing time after school to hunt ghosts. So she had unlocked a room and allowed Valerie to work on her homework in peace without the other students bombarding her with questions about Phantom.

The second the final bell rang, she bolted. To her relief, she was able to find the back of the school empty. She quickly activated her suit, and she was gone like a bat outta hell, straight for the Nasty Burger. Valerie found her usual spot, the back area where the dumpsters were, and changed back into her normal attire. Today, she'd just be early to work.

Dragging herself to the restrooms to change, she got into her uniform before going to clock in and relief an exhausted looking coworker, a college student who eagerly took the chance to go home early. Valerie was already dreading seeing her classmates come in.

It was as bad as she expected. With every teenager who ordered from her register, she got the eventually question. "Hey, aren't you that girl that Danny Phantom/the ghost kid asked out?" She'd force a smile, ignore the question and repeat their order back to them or ask if they needed anything else.

She was never more relieved to be able to leave. She didn't even bother changing back into her normal clothes, she just left through the back way, intending to just fly home. There was still that worksheet for history, math was done but there was extra credit if she could all of the problems rather than just the odd numbers, an essay she could get started on for Lancer-

"Hello."

His greeted made her jump, and she immediately changed into her suit. Within seconds, she had an ectogun in his face, and Phantom had his hands up.

"Whoa, whoa," he said quickly, light panic in his voice. "I'm not here to cause any trouble."

"When are you _not_ causing trouble?" she snapped back.

Phantom rolled his eyes.

"I got a phone," he announced. Hesitantly, as if afraid she'd shoot, he took a phone out of his pocket. It was soon snatched out of his hands.

Valerie kept a gun pointed on him as she inspected the phone. It was just a cheap smartphone, the kind that could be picked up at the store that was preloaded. A throwaway phone.

"You stole this," she accused him, holding it up. "Where did you get this!"

"I didn't steal it!" Phantom insisted, and he moved to take it back. Valerie pushed the gun further into his face. "Look, I have...some human friends. They got one for me."

"Manipulating people now?" she scowled. Phantom made a face at her.

"No. They're my friends. We've been friends since before I was a ghost," he insisted, and this sentence was a gut punch for Valerie.

It was so weird for him to say such a thing, to talk about before he was a ghost. She almost forgot that this kid in front of her was...once a kid. Had a family, maybe a brother or sister. Friends, went to school. He was probably into sports, Phantom seemed athletic and like he would enjoy playing games. Maybe played on a team. Valerie didn't let herself falter.

"I don't believe you," she stated.

"When do you ever believe me?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "Can I have my phone back now?"

Valerie pressed the home button to light up the display, and her gut twisted a bit. The background of the lock screen was of him and Dani together, making funny faces for the camera. She didn't want to see anymore, and she tossed the phone back at him. He caught it with ease. She stared at him for a while, and she finally lowered her weapon.

"555-3186." Phantom raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" God Phantom was an idiot.

"You got a phone so you could contact me, right?" she snapped. Phantom's eyes lit up as everything clicked for him. "That's my number. 555-3186." Phantom began to scramble to unlock his phone.

"Uh-uh-uh, one second, lemme just-um-" Valerie rolled her eyes as he fumbled around. She held her hand out for the phone, and Phantom stared at her. He reluctantly gave her his phone. She stared at the unlocked background. It was different than the lock screen one. This time it was of Cujo in his puppy form, in Dani's lap as she cooed and fussed over him. _And he said it wasn't his dog._ She mentally scowled, but she brought up the contacts. To her surprise, he already had a few contacts saved.

**Bat Girl**

**Cheesehead**

**Dani Phantom**

**Geek Squad**

**Nosy Know-It-All**

She decided to ignore it for now, and she entered a new contact for herself. Red Huntress. After typing in her name and number, she handed the phone back to Phantom, who accepted it.

"Call me tomorrow night at 4," she told him. She could be home, even if she got detention, but before her dad got home. "So we can properly arrange where we're going to meet and stuff for our meet-up."

"Date," he corrected her, and he shot a smug grin. She wanted to shoot him. "You agreed to go on a _date_ with _me_. Flowers, walking the park, hand-holding kind of date." That grin immediately left when she raised her ecto-gun again to him. "Okay, okay. Jeez, guess you're not much of a romantic. Cold and businesslike it is. Should I wear a suit and tie and bring a powerpoint presentation then?" Valerie couldn't help it. The corner of her lip twitched in amusement.

"Couldn't hurt," she replied lightly. Phantom laughed.

"I'll call tomorrow at 4 then," he told her. Valerie finally eased up, and she let her weapon fall to her side again with a nod.

"Tomorrow at 4. And if you don't call, I'll find you," she threatened. Phantom seemed amused by this, but he didn't say anything. He just gave a wave before shooting off into the air. Valerie copied his actions with her hoverboard, only to stay hovered to see where he was headed. He was headed towards where FentonWorks was. Was he going back into the Ghost Zone? No, then how would he know when ghosts in Amity Park were attacking? Where _did_ he live then?

Phantom was just an endless list of questions.


	4. Chapter 4

_1\. Interview techniques!_

_2\. Take inventory of ghost hunting equipment and determine what I should bring_

_3\. Check to see if there's any tracking devices I can stick on Phantom before he leaves_

_4\. Pick out an outfit – ask Star for help_

_5\. Scout out the meeting spot beforehand to map it out and prepare for possible ambush possibilities_

_6\. Find a way to get in reliable contact with Phantom._

Valerie was able to check off number six for now, but she still had so much to do, and what felt like no time.

She paced her room. Every few moments she kept glancing at her phone, lighting up the display to check for a missed call and double checking to assure the volume was turned up sufficiently so she could hear the ring. Phantom was supposed to call at four, and it was already 3:55. She glanced out the door of her bedroom, assuring herself once more that her dad was working until eight. She didn't have detention, no ghosts seemed to be out, her homework (aside from reading for English) was complete. She had a blank page of her journal open to take notes on the specter once he called. Now it was just a waiting game.

Soon, the screen lit up with an unknown number at 4:00 on the dot. Her gut twisted anxiously as she dove for it.

"Hello," Valerie spoke into the phone.

"Hey." Phantom's voice was...oddly shy and quiet. Almost as if he was anxious. "How are you?"

"Good," Valerie gave the socially acceptable answer. "You?"

"Doing alright."

She suddenly felt a bit awkward and shy herself as silence washed over. What did she even have in common with a dead kid? This whole thing felt foolish, and she had no clue how to start a conversation.

"...So whatcha wearing?" Valerie's eyes narrowed. Phantom's tone was clearly teasing and she was surprised he lost his shyness so quick, but she didn't see the humor in his joke.

"Ghost hunting suit," she replied dryly.

"Oo kinky. Gonna cuff and zap me again?" Phantom's voice laughed at his own joke before he cut himself off. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Don't hang up, please." Valerie's finger was hovered over the button, but she paused. Phantom cleared his throat. "So...for Friday, I thought we could just go for a walk, maybe have a picnic in the park. What did you want to eat?"

"I'll pack it," Valerie immediately replied. "I don't trust you not to rat poison my food."

"No way, I don't trust you not to put blood blossoms in a salad or something," Phantom shot back. Valerie raised an eyebrow.

"Blood blossoms?" she echoed. She heard Phantom let out a soft _"fuck"_ on the other line, and she smirked. She jotted down in her notebook the term. "We'll pack our own lunches."

"Deal."

Valerie heard noises in the background.

"Danny, who is that?" a familiar voice questioned. It was Dani. "Is that Valerie?"

Valerie's heart skipped a beat before she remembered that Phantom's first name was Danny. It somehow didn't feel...right to call him that. He was always Phantom to her. Danny was...too human in a sense for her taste.

"None of your beeswax," Phantom replied. She heard more shuffling in the background, as if somebody was trying to grab the phone. "Hey! Scram!"

"I wanna say hi!" the half-ghost whined. Valerie heard Phantom scowl.

"Excuse you, this is a private call!" Phantom huffed.

"But Danny!"

"Danielle, get out of my room! Go bug Ja-just go!"

Valerie couldn't help but smile. They were more like siblings than anything. But a thought hit her. His room? Phantom had a room somewhere? Was he living with Danielle's family for the time being? Was it in the Ghost Zone? No wait, Danielle was human too. Maybe Phantom lived with Danielle's human family. Of course! That made sense! How he lived in Amity yet was a ghost. She mentally cheered at the breakthrough.

"Actually Phantom," Valerie spoke, "I'd love to say hello to Dani."

There was an excited squeal and an annoyed/surprised yell before Danielle's voice chirped into the receiver, "Hi!" Valerie cracked a smile.

"Hey Dani," she replied.

"My cousin thinks you're super cute!" Dani began immediately. Valerie heard Phantom shriek her name in horror and more shuffling, a fight for the phone. "He talks about how he like-likes you all the time, and I've overheard him say that he wants to kis- _hey!_ "

"GET _OUT_ OF MY ROOM!"

Valerie heard protesting whines then a slamming door, following by rapid banging on wood. She assumed Phantom forced her out.

"...Sorry for that," Phantom's voice came in after a moment of silence.

"It's okay," Valerie replied. Honestly, she wasn't really sure how she felt. She was an only child, so she didn't truly understand the annoyance. It was more amusing to her than anything. Her mind scrambled for something to talk about.

"So, what kind of movies do you like?"

Phantom's question took her by surprise. It was such a normal, everyday question to ask, and for some reason, Valerie found it weird that he was asking such a thing.

"Um," her mind was a bit blank as she scrambled to remember her own favorite genres. "I really like action movies. Horror movies are pretty cool too."

"I love horror!" The irony of that was not lost on Valerie. "Have you ever seen the Dead Teacher series? It's soooo good. Of course the original is the best, but the sequel is freaking great too! Third one was terrible, you can skip it, but the fourth was pretty decent. Not the best, but I'd watch it again."

"I've never seen Dead Teacher," she admitted, and she heard a gasp of surprise from the other.

"We should watch it together sometime!" he suggested. "I have all the DVDs, I watch it with my friends S-m-my friends." Valerie frowned. He almost spilled a name. Was it one of his supposed human friends? Did he even have ghostly friends? Not to mention, why was he acting so...casual? As if they were going to hang out and be buddies and not like Valerie wasn't regularly hunting him down while he terrorized Amity Park and played hero.

She felt herself shaking, and she began to pace her room again, clutching the phone tightly. What was this? All of this? The phone call, the date, his actions, him pretending that they were friends, let alone romantic interests.

"Why?" she finally asked. Phantom didn't reply for a while.

"Cause I like the movies? So I bought them?" He seemed confused.

"No, I mean _why,_ " she stressed. "Why this? Why are you calling me? Why are we talking? What the hell are you even doing? I'm a ghost hunter."

Silence. Valerie found herself pacing slower before finally allowing herself to sit. Phantom hadn't talked in so long, that she was beginning to think he hung up when he finally said something.

"I never hated you or anything. I don't know why you got that idea-"

"Maybe it's because you _ruined_ my _life_ ," she hissed.

"I never did that on purpose," he spoke harshly before his tone immediately softened. "I just...I don't know how to explain it, Val."

"Don't call me that." Val was something reserved for a friend, not a ghost.

"What do you want me to call you then?" Phantom began to sound irritated.

"Just...not Val." Danny and Star called her Val, _not_ Phantom.

"Well, _Valerie,_ believe it or not, ghosts have feelings. And...honestly, you're so cool."

Valerie was taken aback by this. Her? Cool? Yeah, at one point, she was cool, a popular kid. But one glance at her surroundings reminded her that nobody thought of her in such a way in a long, long time.

"So you humiliated me in front of my entire school because you think I'm cool?"

"No. I...I'm really sorry. It just sounded like a good idea at the time, and I just, I just, I just really want a chance to talk to you without all the guns blazing and have you get to know me so I can get to know you cause I just always admired you, I mean your suit is so _badass_ looking and it makes you look so pretty, I love the way you look when you're chasing ghosts but like I mean ghosts that _aren't_ me like I mean just your form and how effortless you make it look and..." Phantom trailed off. Valerie was in a stunned silence, and she rubbed her temple with her free hand. Her mind was racing, trying to process everything he was throwing at her.

It was all bullshit. It was part of the game. God, this was so Phantom to pull this kind of mind trick. But she wasn't a 'phangirl' of his, nor a hormonal teen girl that was desperate for a boyfriend. Yeah, she wanted a date for Winter Formal, but she wasn't going to cry if she didn't get it. That was life. Protecting Amity Park was more important than trivial teenage drama.

"Valerie." Valerie forced herself to snap back to attention as Phantom broke the silence that had began to form. "Please. People make mistakes. I'm really, really sorry that I ruined your life. I didn't mean it. Any of it. If I could have stopped it..." Phantom took an unnaturally long pause here. "I would have. I want a chance to make it up to you and to show you that I'm not really that bad of a guy."

"You're lying," she immediately called him out. "You wouldn't have stopped it."

"...I would. I kind of wouldn't want to-"

"I fucking knew it."

" _I kind of wouldn't want to_ ," Phantom repeated himself, his voice cold with annoyance at the interruption, "because it'd mean that I've never know the Valerie you are now. The really cool, badass and beautiful ghost-hunting Valerie. The Valerie I've kind of grown to really...But I would change it. Because I know it'd make you happy to have your old life back."

Valerie didn't know how to respond to that.

There was a loud banging on Phantom's end, frantic and panicked.

"Danny!" Dani's voice called out from the background. Valerie assumed she was knocking on the door again.

"Danielle, I told you, I'm _on the phone_ -"

"Your mom's here!"

Valerie was absolutely blown away by this, especially when Phantom began to curse and mutter something under his breath.

"Go upstairs to the O-go upstairs! I'll sneak you a plate of dinner in a bit, okay?"

"Okay! Be quick!"

Her theory about Phantom living with Danielle's family was absolutely blown out of the water. Was Danielle living with Phantom's family? Unknown? She had to be unknown, otherwise why would Phantom sneak her a plate of dinner? What the hell? Was Phantom, a ghost, still living with his very much alive family somewhere in Amity Park? Did they not care?

"Valerie? Valerie?"

"Y-yeah?" Valerie quickly composed herself.

"I gotta get going. I can call you later?"

"T-that's okay. I'll see you Friday, okay?" Valerie's heart was pounding like crazy.

"Yeah, seven at the park gazebo," Phantom repeated the information. She could almost hear the playful smile in his voice as he went on to tease, "But of course I'll probably be seeing you around. Stay in good spirits, okay? Bye!"

He hung up. Valerie let her phone drop onto her bed as she flopped back onto it. The conversation played in her mind repeatedly as she soon made herself roll over onto her stomach, grabbing her forgotten Phantom journal and a pen.

She had no clue where to even begin when it came to this entry.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, the next chapter is actually...their fucking date (not Winter Formal but that date that Valerie keeps flipping out over) I promise I'm not dragging it on forever. It's already partway typed out.

Valerie noticed a few distinct things when she stepped into the lunch room that Thursday.

One, many people were still staring at her. Lots of rumors had begun to fly around about her. She ignored most, as they were dumb. Deep down, she didn't want to hear the inevitable rumor that she was the Red Huntress and that there was a rival romance going on between her and Phantom. Sometimes, while rumors were dumb and out of the water with how inaccurate they were, sometimes they were so dead on it was heart-stopping.

Two, Star was sitting with the fellow A-listers today, which crushed her spirit a bit. She was hoping she could scoot in with Star so that she could ask for outfit advice. Oh well. Maybe after school. Star had cheerleading practice, but she could always swing by afterwards. Valerie had work anyway.

Three, Sam Manson wasn't sitting with Danny and Tucker. The goth was sitting with fellow goths, eyes looking red from crying and overall seemed unusually upset. Valerie was baffled that the girl, first of all, would allow the school to see her like that. She could only assume that her parents made her go to school or the fight had happened sometime during the day. Plus, the something wrong had to be with Danny and/or Tucker, or else she'd be seeking comfort from her best friends and not the fellow goths she was occasionally seen roaming the school grounds with or hanging out after classes.

Four, the second Danny noticed her enter the lunchroom, he smiled at her. And waved. And motioned for her to come over and join him and Tucker. Her heart soared, fluttering happily for the first time all week. He didn't hate her despite a ghost asking her out, humiliating her. All of her Phantom-related problems and stresses melted away as she oh-too-eagerly made her way over.

"Hey Val!" Danny greeted, and he gave her that sweet smile that always made her feel like everything was going to be okay. He patted the empty seat next to him, and she gladly took it.

"Hey guys," she replied happily, setting her lunchbag on the table. She noticed that the other two's lunches, both also packed (which made her feel better about not buying lunch quite honestly) and untouched. "Whatcha got for lunch today?"

"I packed a manwich and some chips," Tucker grinned happily, pulling the contents out of the bag. Out with the food also came a package of cookies and jellybeans.

"I was running late, so Jazz brought me a lunch she packed for me," Danny confessed, and he flushed a bit. Valerie chuckled. She knew she had ghosts as an excuse for being late, but it was an eternal mystery as to why Danny always seemed to struggle to be on time for anything. "I dunno what she packed, but least I know it won't be glowing."

Valerie snorted in amusement at the light joke. Her eyes subtly glanced over at Sam. She was staring at the table, arms crossed and looking like she wanted to cry again. When being caught, she turned her head, and she began to talk to another goth that sat next to her. Valerie suddenly felt very much like she was intruding on something.

"So," Valerie began, unsure how to even broach the subject. "Sam-"

"We had a small fight," Danny confessed before Valerie could even ask. Valerie felt a twinge of guilt. She could just feel that she was the reasoning behind it. "It's...it's nothing."

"Yeah, Sam just needs a bit of time to cool down. Then we'll all talk it out, apologize, then bingewatch Dead Teacher," Tucker added. Valerie flinched at the movie name. From how Phantom spoke of the movie series, he probably watched it a lot too.

"Hopefully," Valerie replied before dropping the conversation.

"So Val, are you going to Winter Formal?" Tucker questioned. She paused. Was she going? She had no clue. Tucker chuckled at her hesitation. "I thought you got asked by the one dude people would die for a chance to go out with." His tone was teasing, but Valerie didn't do anything besides roll her eyes at the idea of taking that date seriously, as well as the bad joke.

She glanced at Danny to see his reaction. His face was a bright pink as he unpacked his lunch, a simple sandwich with fruit and chips, and she felt awkward talking about going out with a ghost when sitting next to her ex, who came from a family of literal ghost hunters and was more afraid of ghosts than anybody else she knew. He always ran from them like a bat out of hell.

"I don't know yet," she confessed. God did she really, really not know. She caught Tucker shooting Danny a confused look, and Danny lightly shaking his head. What did that mean? "Did you ask anybody, Tucker?"

"Yeah! And I got a yes!" Tucker grinned, sitting up straighter triumphantly. Valerie eagerly took this chance to change the subject.

"That's awesome! Who?" she wondered.

"Juliet, she's in my English," he explained. Valerie knew her, and she smiled warmly.

"I'm glad," she replied genuinely. "You guys are going to look adorable together." She glanced at Danny, who was focused on dissecting his sandwich to figure out what his sister had put on it. "Danny?" Valerie almost didn't want to know the answer. "Did you ask anybody?" Danny visibly flinched, and Valerie immediately knew that he did indeed ask somebody. She forced a smile, trying to joke about it. "Who's the lucky lady?"

"Uh," Danny didn't look at her, keeping his gaze intensely focused on the contents of the sandwich, ham and some cheese. "I-I, I asked somebody but uh...I never...got a reply," he confessed. Valerie blinked.

"Like you texted her and she never replied?" she questioned. Danny suddenly glanced at her, and he nodded, a bit too quickly.

"Y-yeah! I asked her over text, and she left me on read," he said, his voice shaking a bit anxiously as he forced a grin himself. Valerie felt bad for him, but she smiled. She lightly nudged him teasingly.

"Idiot, you're supposed to bring her flowers and ask, not text her," she teased him. Danny gave an anxious laugh.

"I, uh, I'll remember that next time," he grinned weakly. It made Valerie feel a bit better, in a horrible way, that Danny's date-to-be seemed to have rejected him. She smiled lightly at him, and she began to eat her own lunch, ignoring the underlying guilt of taking Sam's place.

* * *

Valerie had her ghost-hunting equipment spread out on her bed. She was carefully going through each piece, doing her normal maintenance of it as she mentally sorted through what was coming with her the next day. It was oddly soothing, relaxing, to just sit and clean the weapons. She was so used to it that her mind could roam, fantasize about the day she finally captured Phantom for real and destroyed him for good.

Behind her, she could hear Star hunt through her wardrobe. The cheerleader had brought over a few things she had that would fit Valerie as possible options. In Star's words, she had to dazzle her date. Even if she planned on eventually destroying him. Thankfully, Star wasn't trying to make conversation, allowing a peaceful, nonawkward silence to fall over them as they played to their areas of expertise.

Valerie, unfortunately, had nothing to help her determine if Phantom was lying or not, nor anything in the realm of a tracking device. She cursed to herself over not having such basic things, but she decided that perhaps it was for the best. After all, she didn't want Phantom to become suspicious down the line if he were to find it.

"I've got it," Star suddenly announced. Valerie looked up from her work, putting back together an ectogun. Star did a 'ta-da' motion at the closet door, where her outfit for her date was hanging. Valerie paused. It was perfect.

Jeans, plain white t-shirt but with a dark green and black denim jacket over it. White canvas shoes. Casual, cute, especially if she put her hair up in a ponytail, she would look great but also ready to kick Phantom's butt if he double-crossed her or attacked during the date.

"Star, you are amazing," Valerie confessed with a grin. Star smiled, a bit smugly.

"I know," she replied, pride filling her voice before it dropped, and she gave her a questioning look as she crossed her arms. "So, are you going to Winter Formal with Phantom? Paulina will kill you, ya know."

Valerie shrugged.

"I don't really plan on it. Not unless he just absolutely dazzles me or something," she snorted in amusement at her own statement. Phantom. Dazzle her. In his wildest dreams. "And let Paulina kill me. You really think she can take me on?"

"What about Fenton then?" Star asked, her voice growing soft. Valerie was quiet.

"Once I take care of Phantom," she said slowly, "I will see where I stand with Danny. I just." She closed her eyes. Flashes of Danny being attacked by her old suit haunted her. Thankfully, he was fast, but it was such a close call. Visions of Danny constantly being attacked by her enemies. Of Phantom or Plasmius using Danny against her. "I can't risk it. Not with Phantom about. Especially when he's growing bolder and pulling stunts like this."

"You really, really think Phantom wants to hurt you?" Star asked. She looked skeptical. "You told me yourself, like everything about your little phone call. He sounds like Kwan did when he was really into me but not sure how to approach me." Valerie rolled her eyes.

"He's a ghost, Star. Not a high school student," she reminded her.

"He probably was one once before," Star shrugged, and Valerie flinched as her gut twisted. She just...couldn't see Phantom as anything other than Phantom, town menace. There was just something unnaturally wrong about picturing the ghost boy in anything other than his suit, floating. She tried to mentally dress him in something else, anything else, but it just didn't look right, and she gave up.

"Just trust me on this, Star," Valerie pleaded. Star just observed her for a moment before nodding. She soon smiled.

"Call me when it's over, because I have to know everything," Star insisted. "I still can't believe you're going out on a date with Danny Phantom! I'm so jealous." Valerie resisted the urge to groan. Least somebody was happy about this.

She returned her attention back to the selection of weapons. Now, now. What to bring?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally...they date

_I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself._

_But most of all, I hate Phantom. I hate him so much with every fiber of my being._

_He didn't do anything during our date_ (this was intensely scribbled out) _meeting tonight. He was actually funny, and he was nice. Phantom seemed so human, he even looked it tonight. And apparently he can dance. And he's not stumbling over his own feet like an idiot when he does it either. We actually had a decent conversation. We ended up going out to eat, but...nobody even noticed it was him. It was so strange. He was so human. TOO human. And if he wasn't a ghost, I'd...as insane as it'd seem, he was actually kind of charming and cute.  
_

_I can't be blamed for that, right? You can objectively call somebody cute but still want to rip apart every part of their being. I'm mainly just saying I can understand how Amity Park can fall for his tricks. He has that oddly endearing, dorky charm. Kinda like Danny.  
_

_But I'm not falling for this charmed bullshit I know he's trying to pull. But I think I put on a good performance, as he did end up telling me a lot._ _And honestly? I even felt bad for him. If what he says is true, it sounds like he's had a really lonely life. I think I figured some things out though. I still need to know more if I want to figure him out.  
_

_And we may or may not have another meeting scheduled._

* * *

Valerie huffed in annoyance. Sure, she was a few minutes late, but Phantom was apparently even later. The only other person around was some guy chilling out on a bench closest to the gazebo. She grumbled to herself, changing out of her suit, revealing her chosen outfit. Once out, she pulled the scrunchie off her wrist and began to put her hair up in a ponytail.

God, school today had been an anxiety-riddled nightmare. She was dreading the meeting the entire day. She even almost called to ask Phantom to cancel, but she stopped herself. What if he refused to reschedule? Or worse, what if he caught on? She felt so unprepared, she didn't have enough time to get everything together and organized and sorted, and she was just so ready for everything to be over. She let out a louder, annoyed groan from the back of her throat. Where was he!? The guy on the bench turned to look at her, and Valerie's breath got caught in her throat upon seeing her ghostly date.

He was the one sitting on the bench, but she overlooked him completely. He had a very faint ghostly glow, the faintest she had ever seen him have. He didn't wear his suit. For some reason, even though she had dressed up specifically for the date, she didn't expect him to do so as well. Phantom wore a black Dumpty Humpty band t-shirt with black hooded unzipped jacket over it and black skinny jeans, as well as black converse. On his head he had a black beanie, covering a lot of his white hair, small tuffs sticking out here and there.

He looked so completely and utterly human that it almost terrified her.

Instead, she swallowed the scream that was bubbling, forcing a smile to match the friendly, excited one he was giving her.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hello." Her voice came out a lot softer and weaker than she wanted it to. She was still in awe. Phantom didn't seem to mind, or notice, or if he did, he didn't say anything about it.

"I'm glad we both seemed to agree that the suit and tie business casual was a terrible idea," he joked. Valerie rolled her eyes. "I don't have a powerpoint presentation ready either, sorry. I was busy."

"Busy doing what?" Valerie couldn't help but wonder.

"Busy thinking about how happy it made me that you actually agreed to come out here with me tonight," he replied, too smoothly for her liking. She felt her cheeks flush a bit, and she hated it. She shot him a glare. He shot her a smile. Phantom offered up his hand for her to hold. She didn't accept it, instead awkwardly motioning for him to begin walking with her.

They began to walk along the path in silence. It felt a bit awkward, but Valerie kind of welcomed it. She didn't know how to even begin a conversation. He was Phantom. What did she have in common with Phantom? He was...he was _Phantom_ for crying out loud!

She stole a glance at him from the corner of her eye. He seemed oblivious to her inner conflict, happily looking up at the stars, almost dreamily as they casually strolled the path. Her heart stopped a bit. The moon was full, and it gave the illusion that it was the moon making him glow instead of his spectral self. It made him look even more human, and she quickly looked away, focusing on the path in front of them.

The park was thankfully fairly empty, save for them. It was winter, but most of the snow had melted by now with the lack of cold temperatures to keep it around, leaving a few piles of slush lying on parts of the sidewalk and grass. Not too cold to go walking, but not warm enough that most people wanted to bother with a late night stroll.

"So have you decided on if you want me to take you to Winter Formal?" Phantom asked, once again the one to break the silence in their conversations. She frowned.

"Our meeting-"

"Date," Phantom annoyingly corrected her.

" _Meeting_ just started," she huffed. "I bet you can't even dance anyway."

"Come on, I'm a great dancer," Phantom insisted, and he took her hand.

Valerie flinched. She expected him to be freezing, and while he was chilled, he was not nearly as cold as she had expected him to be. She didn't pull away as he lightly tugged her closer. She didn't budge. Phantom reached into his pocket, pulling out an iPod. She just stared as he began to play a song she didn't recognize before shoving it in his pocket, the music instantly muffling a bit, but she could still faintly hear the lyrics and beat. He lightly tugged on her again, and she reluctantly stepped forward. He rested a hand on her hip, and he began to gently guide her to the music. Unsure of what else to do, she let her free hand rest on his shoulder, barely touching him.

For a minute, she said nothing. She simply listened to the song, quietly letting Phantom guide her. To his credit, he wasn't bad. He didn't step on her toes, seemed confident in guiding her and kept a good pace, sure in his steps.

"How did you learn to dance?" she suddenly asked. Phantom's cheeks burned green.

"You'd laugh at me," he accused. The corner of her lip twitched.

"Try me."

Phantom didn't say anything, letting go of her hip to encourage her to twirl. She did, and she was pulled back into his arm. His hand went to the middle of her back, continuing to guide her.

"Somebody actually asked my spazz of a sister to a school dance, so she insisted that I help her learn to dance so that she wouldn't step on his feet," he finally confessed. Valerie snorted in amusement, and Phantom's cheeks flushed darker. "Hey, it came in handy. Your toes are intact."

"I suppose," she said, and she couldn't help the light smile. The smile soon faded, and she stared absentmindedly at their feet as she let him continue his impromptu dance with her.

"I promise I won't break your foot," Phantom's teasing voice snapped her out of her daze. His lips were practically next to her ear, and she jerked away a bit. He chuckled at her, pulling back a bit to give her the desired space. She blinked, looking at him, studying his expressions. God, he looked so human, it was unnerving.

"You have a sister and Danielle," Valerie spoke up. "Who else?" Phantom looked surprised at her question.

"Well," he began slowly. "I have my parents of course. They're still married and everything." She could have sworn he muttered something under his breath about how that was even still possible despite how many times his father forgot their anniversary, but she wasn't sure, as he had her twirl again which robbed her of a chance to try and at least read his lips. "I have an aunt and uncle too, on my mom's side. And several on my dad's, plus a few cousins, but none of them live in Amity Park."

"Do you live in Amity Park?" she wondered. Phantom snorted in amusement.

"Where else would I live?" Valerie gave a smirk as she stopped the twirl, facing Phantom again, who looked humored.

"The Ghost Zone," she replied simply. His face dropped. "So you live in Amity Park somewhere?"

"Well unless you wanna take things to the next level already and meet my folks, I suggest you stop right there," he was teasing, but she caught the serious undertone of the message. She decided to come back to that later. "So what do you like to do when you're not in school, working or ghost hunting?" Valerie was taken aback by the question.

"Uh...," Valerie had no clue how to answer. What did she do outside of those things anymore? It felt like she didn't have time for anything else, and her grip on his hand tightened as she struggled to find an answer.

"What music do you like?" he offered an easier question. Her grip loosened a bit.

"I like rock and alternative," she said slowly. "Like Dumpty Humpty." Phantom chuckled, grinning.

"I love Dumpty Humpty," he replied, and he nodding his head down to his shirt. Valerie had forgotten he was wearing a band t-shirt, and she flinched a bit at the date of the show. It was a very recent concert, one that had happened after Phantom had appeared. So he went to concerts still?

This was all too weird for her, and she lightly jerked herself out of his grasp. Phantom seemed a bit surprised, but he let her go. He took his iPod out of his pocket and turned the music off before returning it.

"You okay?" Valerie found herself growing angry with his fake concern.

"I'm fine!" she snapped, and she crossed her arms, huffing a bit.

"...You wanna get something to eat? I noticed you never brought a lunch. I mean, I didn't either," Phantom grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "My treat?"

Valerie stared at him. What he fucking daft? Going out to eat?

"Yeah," she finally sighed. "I guess I can go in and get us something from the Nasty Burger or something." Phantom chuckled at her, and it only caused anger to bubble again. "What!?"

"You don't have to do that," he told her, and he shot her an amused smile. "I can go in and get my stuff." She stared at him in disbelief. "What?"

"You're a ghost!" she almost shouted, waving her hands dramatically at him to showcase her point. "Glowing, undead! You can't go into the Nasty Burger." Phantom shrugged.

"Wouldn't be the first time. Nobody's noticed so far, long as I'm not in my suit and have a hat on, you'd be surprised at how little people pay attention." Valerie's heart dropped into her stomach. Was there ever a time, while she was in the rush of a long shift at work, that she actually once did an exchange with Phantom? "Let's not do the Nasty Burger though. I have another place in mind."

Phantom offered a hand out to her. Valerie didn't take it, staring at it before Phantom awkwardly let it drop to his side before he shoved it into his pocket.

"Come on," he encouraged, and he began to walk towards the park's entrance. "It's not too far from here."

* * *

Phantom had led her to a small diner she knew she had to have passed hundreds of times. She had seen the sign before, but she just, for whatever reason, never came into the place. The outside was just the brick exterior, the place squished in between two other small places. The street was fairly deserted, the cold weather driving most people to stay off the street and inside warm shops.

He opened the door for her, and Valerie hesitantly stepped inside. She was instantly greeted by a rush of warm air and the smell of coffee. The place wasn't as populated as she figured, especially for a Friday night. It looked bigger than it's outer appearance gave it credit for. The huntress was just waiting for somebody to look at them and call Phantom out, to gasp and scream in horror at the town's menace or in delight at the town's hero.

But nobody said a word.

"Hello! Welcome! Please take a seat, I'll be right with you!" a waitress's cheerful voice called out to them, and Valerie's heart raced.

"Thank you!" Phantom called out, equally as cheerfully.

He motioned for Valerie to follow him, and she did. Despite his confidence that nobody would say anything, she took note that he still picked a booth tucked away far from everybody else in the corner. He slipped into a seat, and she took the seat across from him. Before Valerie could speak, the waitress popped up with menus to hand over, which she accepted.

"Hello, my name is Brianna," the girl, college aged, spoke before she began to quickly spout out something about the specials for the night, ending with "So can I get you anything to drink?" Valerie quickly scanned the back of the menu at the drinks.

"May I have an iced coffee please?" Phantom requested almost immediately. The waitress gave an approved hum, writing it down on her notepad. Valerie glanced up at her.

"May I have a regular coffee?" she requested.

"Of course, I'll have it right out for ya!"

Within seconds, she was gone, and Valerie didn't look up at Phantom. She decided to just take advantage of the opportunity to not have to speak to him, to collect her thoughts.

"You know," Of course, of course Phantom couldn't just stay quiet for ten seconds. "They have really good burgers, if that's your thing." Valerie stole a look up at him. He didn't have his menu open at all, having kept it folded and sitting on the edge of the table. He really had been here before. How many times? Did the owners know they were serving a ghost? "And like, I mean, super good. They actually have this vegan burger that's super good. One of my friends made me eat a bite of hers, and I was honestly impressed."

Valerie gave a polite, thoughtful hum over the comment.

"I may get a burger then," she said slowly, glancing at the burger options.

"Here you go!" the waitress set down a cup of iced coffee in front of Danny, giving him a straw as well. An empty cup placed in front of Valerie before filling it from a coffee pot. Valerie smiled.

"Thank you," she replied.

"Thanks!" Phantom echoed.

"Are you ready to order?"

Phantom glanced at Valerie, and she shifted a bit before she gave her order, Phantom following with his own. The waitress jotted it down before she flounced off, leaving the mismatched couple alone again.

Valerie focused on getting a packet of sugar to put into her coffee. She jumped when something hit her cheek, and she quickly slapped her hand to her cheek. Her fingers wrapped around a piece of paper, and she narrowed her eyes at Phantom, who was holding back a snicker as he put his straw into his drink.

"Did you just-"

"Fire a straw at you?" he interrupted her, taking a sip before stirring the drink with the straw. "Yeah. Relax, Red. We're basically in a truce." He dropped his smile to look at her seriously, a frown pulling at his lips. "I want you to _want_ to be here with me."

Valerie didn't reply. She instead focused on taking a small drink of coffee as she collected her thoughts. She didn't know how to reply to that. Phantom was quiet for a moment, taking another drink of his own coffee.

"Valerie, I asked you out because I want to be here with you." She wished he had stayed silent. She glanced up at him, and Phantom seemed...oddly really sad and hurt. "I like you. I mean, I actually really _like_ you. I...I want a chance."

"I'm not going to be your girlfriend," she said bluntly, narrowing his eyes at her. Phantom shook his head.

"No. I understand that. I mean," Phantom began to flush a green, and he nervously fiddled with the cup. Valerie stared at him. "It'd be...p-pretty cool if y-you, ya know, but t-that's not the thing! I just...I wanna clear the air. I'm not this evil ghost bent on ruining your life and destroying the town."

"Then what are you?" she pressed. "If you're supposedly not this evil ghost?"

"I'm just a kid trying to have as normal a life as I can possibly get." The answer threw her off, and she didn't say anything in response to that.

But, wasn't that her too? She was still just a kid. Granted, she was almost seventeen, almost a legal adult, but she was...still just a kid when she began ghost hunting. Phantom was around her age, so around her age when he showed up too. But is this what Phantom did when he wasn't hunting ghosts? Going to concerts and small diners?

"What do you do?" she blurted out. Phantom gave her a weird look, and she flushed. "I mean, what do _you_ do outside of hunting ghosts?"

"I go to movies with my friends, play video games. My best friend and I like building robots to take part in those like, robot fighting things, but I also go to the observatory to use the telescopes. I don't do that so much anymore, because I can typically just fly up really high and look at the skies from up there really clearly. Sometimes I go out of town to concerts or conventions," he immediately began to list off things, to her surprise. She...kind of didn't expect an answer, let alone such human answers, but Phantom had paused. He was staring at her, almost uncertain. She didn't understand why until he finally began to speak again. "I love to go to the library with my sister. It's...really dumb, honestly. I don't even get books most of the time, I just kind of go with her to get out of the house, sometimes just sit around and use the free wifi. But she'll...teach me stuff. Like go over English or biology stuff with me. Sometimes math, but I tend to be pretty okay at math. And she actually normally wants _my_ help with physics." He gave a humored chuckle, as if it was funny, but she didn't get why. Was Phantom normally a bad student?

Valerie's fingers lightly rubbed the side of her coffee cup as she listened. So he did still live at home with family. Did they know he was a ghost? They had to, right? How could they not? So they were okay with ghosts? Or were they just never able to accept that their son had passed away? Then again, Phantom just brought her into a goddamn diner in just street clothes and a hat and nobody seemed to care. Were people really that oblivious? And it was still killing her to know that she probably looked Phantom dead in the eye one day and asked him what kind of drink he wanted with his Nasty Burger order.

"Are you homeschooled?" she questioned. Phantom looked taken aback by the question.

"...Y-yeah," he replied. "Can't do gym or something looking like this, huh?" he cracked a weak smile. "I mean, going into a diner for like, one hour every so often is one thing." He gave a soft, almost nervous chuckle, but the answer relieved her. Least she didn't need to stress that Phantom was so human-passing that she was possibly sharing a class with him. Her mind began to race through possible students he could have been, students she went to middle school with that never went to Casper High. But that could be any student out of thousands, or even a student she had never even met before Phantom showed up. Finding answers never got easier. And even then, that implies that Phantom ever went to public school at all. He could have been homeschooled his whole life for all she knew.

"Do..." Valerie hesitated. Best to just be blunt with her question. "Do you miss being alive?" Phantom shot her a mischievous grin.

"You know, in many ways, it feels like I've never died," he replied. Valerie raised an eyebrow. What on earth did that even mean? He seemed to notice the confusion. "I mean, I still hang out with my old friends. Do my old hobbies. Interact and such with my family. Being a h-, being a, uh, well ghost." She took note of this. Was he uncomfortable admitting he was a ghost? "It's not much different. People still act and treat me like nothing happened."

"How is that possible?" Valerie pressed. "I mean, you look so different, and you're on the face of the news every single day."

"I'm..." Phantom shifted uncomfortably. "I'm uh, well I've become a bit of a hermit after I died. Antisocial, I stopped hanging out with most people. Only really chill with my two best friends now. So most people don't see me anyway. And even then, not like most of them even know anyway." Valerie choked on air. _What?_

"Wait, what do you mean?" she demanded to know. "How do people not know?" Phantom flinched, and he looked down at the table, shrugging as he took a sip of his iced coffee. "Oh hell no, Phantom-"

"Danny." Valerie was taken aback by him cutting her off. He looked up to meet her eye. "Please."

"I have a friend named Danny. I'll get confused," she argued. Phantom sighed heavily.

"Please. At least while we're in the restaurant. If you're going to raise your voice and such at me and use my name, at least use a nickname or a first name that isn't related to ghosts. Or lower your volume. Lest you want to make a dramatic, revealing exit." Valerie sighed, and her mind flickered through potential nicknames. She took a drink of coffee to distract herself.

"Fine. DP, what the hell did you mean that most people don't know?" Valerie lowered her voice and forced herself to calm down as best she could. He shrugged again.

"Can't be more clearer than that. Most people in my life don't know that I died," he replied. He took another sip of iced coffee. Puzzle pieces began to fall into place, and Valerie stared at him.

Is that why Danielle was living secretly in his house? His parents didn't know he died? Is that why he even still lived at home? Did his sister not know either? Or did they know but just didn't let him know because they couldn't accept that their son passed on? His friends? What if Danielle was the only person who knew? Valerie had no clue what to think.

"How did you die?" Valerie asked, her voice growing more quiet. Phantom, surprisingly, chuckled, but it was forced and breathy.

"Going straight for all the personal stuff, aye?" he teased. He was avoiding the question. Not that she...honestly blamed him. She'd come back to it. "Tell me about you. Who's all in your family?"

"Well." Valerie didn't really want to reveal a bunch of information to him, give him ammunition to use against her. He did reveal his own family, and that he had at least a set of parents and a sister in Amity Park, plus Danielle, but Phantom clearly knew where she lived. Phantom was a ghost, and ghosts didn't care about humans. And from what Phantom described, his family, minus Danielle's special case, were all humans. Valerie had standards. She didn't hurt humans. But she had to feed him something to get more out of him. "You know my dad. I'm an only child, so no siblings. I have an aunt, but she lives out of state. Both sets of grandparents have been dead for years."

"What about your mom?" Phantom asked. She flinched.

"My mom's also passed away," she said shortly. "Since I was little." She focused on her coffee, but she glanced up and saw Phantom _pitying_ her. Her grip around the cup tightened.

"I'm so sorry." She scowled.

"Shut up," she hissed. "I don't need your pity."

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd get unnecessarily nasty to me again," Phantom lightly joked. She gulped down the rest of her coffee to avoid the temptation of throwing the hot drink at him. "But uh..." Valerie glanced over at him again. He looked a bit lost, trying to find something to talk about.

"Here you go!" Saved by a waitress, a different one from the girl who took their order. Another college-aged girl, with a long braid. Phantom gave a relieved grin.

"Thanks, Ash," he replied. Valerie's eyes shifted from him to their waitress. They knew each other?

"Oh, it's always good to see you, Danny," the waitress smiled warmly at him, setting his plate in front of him. Valerie hated to admit it, but the food looked better than she expected. "Do you want some more coffee?"

"Uh, no," Valerie swallowed dryly before shaking her head. "May I have a water?"

"Of course!" she replied. "Anything else?" Valerie shook her head, and the waitress left. She glanced at Phantom. He had already taken a huge bite out of his burger. "Do you need to eat?" she blurted out. Phantom shot her a smile. Thankfully, he finished chewing and swallowed before replying.

"It's nice to eat," he confessed. "It makes me feel human." Valerie nodded. She grabbed some ketchup to put on the side for her fries.

"So you don't need to?" she pressed. Phantom thought for a moment before shrugging.

"Guess not," he replied.

They fell in silence as they ate. The waitress came with her water and left with minimal affair. Valerie's mind was racing with all the information she had gotten. God, she wished she could write it down so she could remember it specifically, or that she had gotten a recorder like she had thought about. She regretted it, but now she had to focus on remembering what she learned. Phantom was homeschooled. He had a sister and parents alive in Amity Park. He lives with them, and Dani was apparently hiding with them in secret? And not everybody knew Phantom died. So he had to have died discretely. Phantom didn't even like to talk about it. He admitted he stayed home a lot. Valerie's blood turned cold. What if Phantom committed suicide?

She looked up at him as casually as she could, heart beginning to race at her own theory. He hid everything with shitty jokes and self-hated humor. He pushed off her insults and skepticism. Hell, just asking her out was kind of suicidal in itself. He bottles up feelings. He thinks he's protecting people. He won't let people know he died. He doesn't want to talk about it. He stopped hanging out with most of his friends. He just wants to feel human. He's homeschooled, so maybe he had bad bullying problems? It made so much sense.

Her stomach twisted in knots, and she put her burger down. She forced herself to sip her water as to not appear as bothered as she was by her own discovery. This ghost was so weird.

"Are we doing anything after this?" Valerie questioned. Phantom seemed surprised.

"Uh, did you want to do anything?" Phantom asked back. He shot her a sheepish grin. "Figured you'd be chomping at the bit to go home and get away from me." That self-deprecating humor again.

"Well, I have homework and stuff," she said slowly. Phantom looked...a bit disappointed?

"I understand," he nodded. He shoveled the rest of his burger into his mouth. He took a large gulp of his drink before continuing. "Do you want me to walk you home?"

"Sure." Both of them were surprised at her answer. But Phantom smiled warmly.

"Cool."

"How is everything?" The waitress made her jump a bit in surprise.

"Great. May we have a check please?" Phantom requested. Ash smiled, giving a nod.

"Coming right up. Do you want another iced coffee to go?" she inquired.

"Nah thanks, just the check," he replied. She nodded, and she walked off. Valerie reached into her pocket. "No need." Valerie raised an eyebrow as Phantom pulled out a wallet. It was surprisingly just a normal, dark brown bifold wallet. Even more surprising, he had a wallet.

"I can pay for mine," she insisted. Phantom shook her head.

"This is a date. I asked you," Phantom frowned. Valerie felt her cheeks flare up a bit as she glared.

"I'm not going to owe you anything," she stated firmly. Phantom's frown deepened.

"Red, do you really think I'm that low and bad of a person?" Instant, intense guilt washed over her at how hurt he sounded, even though he kept a fairly neutral face. Wait, why was she feeling guilty? He was a fucking _ghost_ for crying out loud. She opened her mouth to say something, but just ended up closing it, pressing her lips tightly together. She had no clue how to reply to that, and Phantom made no further comments. She didn't take her wallet out, and Phantom opened his.

She casually stretched and peeked over to see what kind of things a ghost had in his wallet as Phantom dug through it. She noticed he had a bank card for a national bank branch, as well as the familiar outline of a library card for the Amity Park library. A few other cards were in there, and Valerie took note that some were purposefully set in backwards. Her heart raced. Those had to be cards that clearly identified Phantom's real identity, who he was before Phantom.

Phantom soon shut his wallet after pulling out cash, oblivious to her mild snooping. He put his wallet back into his pocket, holding the cash in his hand. The waitress came back, and Valerie watched silently as Phantom joked with her lightly and paid. They slipped out of their seats, and went to the front door. Phantom opened it for her, and she muttered a light thanks as she stepped outside. The moment she stepped outside, she paused.

"It's snowing," she commented, lightly baffled. Phantom's eyes lit up, and he darted past her outside and onto the sidewalk.

"Ah, perfect," he sighed happily, closing his eyes and holding his arms out dramatically. He stuck his tongue out to catch a snowflake. Valerie shivered as she crossed her arms, rolling her eyes at him. She wasn't prepared for snow.

"You like winter?" she guessed. Phantom opened an eye to look at her before nodding and letting his hands drop.

"Yeah. I have an ice core, so I really enjoy the cold," he confessed. Valerie nodded. She had guessed that based on the ice powers she had seen him use before in combat. "Ready to walk home?"

"Yeah, sooner I get home, the better. I don't want to get frostbite," she sighed. Phantom looked concerned.

"Do you want my jacket?" he asked, already pulling at the cuffs of the sleeve to take it off.

"Oh, that's fine," Valerie replied quickly. Phantom shook his head, pulling it off. She noticed that his arms were bare underneath. For some reason, she expected him to be wearing his suit underneath it.

"It's chill. I don't mind the cold. I was beginning to get a little overheated anyway," he insisted, and he handed her his jacket. Overheated? In this weather?

She stared at the jacket for a moment before sighing. She slipped it on over her own, and she instantly felt a bit better.

"Thanks," she muttered. Phantom smiled. "My apartment's not too far from here." He nodded, and he began to walk next to her as she began making her way.

"So...I hate to constantly bring it up, but Winter Formal," he replied lightly. Valerie huffed.

"I don't know," she replied. Phantom sighed.

"Look. I don't really like playing games," he said. Valerie glanced over at him. He was keeping his focus on the empty sidewalk ahead of them, illuminated only by city lights. "I'm not going to bother you if you don't have any interest. It's not fun or worth the time. Valerie, I like you. I like you, like you. I have for a while."

"Bullshit, you ruined-"

"Valerie, just fucking stop it." Valerie stopped in her tracks, staring at him. Phantom had taken a few more steps forward before stopping. He didn't turn to face her.

"Excuse me?" she gasped. She was too surprised to even be angry just yet. Phantom looked over his shoulder at her.

"Fucking stop it," he repeated himself. "You're telling me shit I already knew. I already _know_ I ruined your life. You tell me every single time we meet. I didn't do it on purpose." He turned to fully face her, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'm the same age as you. If I went to Casper High, we'd be in the same grade. I didn't rush into Axion Labs with the sole purpose of ruining your life. I didn't even really know who you were or know your dad at all at the time. It was an accident. I know I fucked up, okay? I know, I get it. I'm told every single day that I fucked up, that I did something wrong, that I failed or that I'm not nearly good enough or that I let people down. I hear it every day. It happened. It's done. Either let it go or continue to let it consume you. Not even for my sake. It's going to hurt you in the long run if you don't learn to just accept that it happen and _let it go_."

Valerie just stared at him. She shoved her hands into his jacket pockets, looking at the snow.

"So why do you like me?" she questioned quietly. "I hunt you." Phantom didn't speak for a while. He just stared at the snow beginning to slowly collect on the sidewalk and road. She almost repeated herself when he finally said something.

"You get it." Valerie stayed quiet in hopes he'd elaborate. He did. "You get it in a way that nobody else can or ever will. There's only two other people besides you and I who get it, but they're not really able to...get it either. Out of everybody I've ever met, you'd understand what it's like to be in my shoes more than anybody. My best friends...they're so great and supportive, and they get it, but they don't _get_ it."

"I don't understand," Valerie said slowly. Phantom sighed, and he shot her a desperate look, taking a step forward.

"There's so much I want and need to tell you." His voice was barely above a whisper, and he sounded so hurt.

"Then tell me," she said quietly. He shook his head no immediately.

"I can't." She frowned.

"Why not?"

"It's too risky," he insisted. "I can't do that. Not yet anyway. But I want to." Valerie shuffled uncomfortably. Phantom was an eternal mystery.

"Let's get going," she suggested. "It's going to get even colder." Phantom simply nodded, and they continued to walk. They stayed silent most of the way.

Valerie was burning with so many questions. What was going on with Phantom? What was his little outburst about? It couldn't all be just her. No, something else was going on with him. But what? Was he under a lot of pressure from family? Well, he was homeschooled, and he did ghost hunt more. His grades couldn't be that well off either. Maybe his parents were disappointed in him? Especially if they...didn't know or could understand. And what was the whole understanding him speech? It began to make her bubble a bit in anger. She was _nothing_ like him. He was a fucking _ghost_.

She glanced over at Phantom. He was staring up at the sky, almost captivated. Despite his earlier negativity, he was smiling softly, looking almost longingly at the stars. He mentioned the observatory, and physics. Did Phantom originally wanted to work in a science field?

Valerie felt an anxious knot in her chest. Phantom was a fucking ghost who looked and acted and carried himself so much like a human to the point that nobody but her today noticed that he was a ghost. They just ate _dinner_ in a restaurant where nobody paid them any mind. Phantom was so weird.

They crossed a street and turned a corner and cross another street before Phantom finally spoke up.

"My death was very complicated." Valerie raised an eyebrow at him.

"How so?" she asked. Phantom stared ahead of them. He exhaled deeply.

"My friends think it was an accident," he replied. Valerie already knew what he was going to say. "I never told anybody, but it wasn't an accident. I knew what I was getting into."

"I..." Why was Phantom leaving her so speechless today? "I'm sorry."

Phantom was quiet for several moments.

"...It's okay."

Relief washed over her as she saw her apartment building come into view.

"We can stop here. I'd rather not have my dad see you," Valerie replied, and she cringed at how shitty that sounded. Phantom just snorted in amusement.

"Overprotective?" he questioned. Valerie gave a weak smile and nodded. "I get it. My dad's the same way with my sister, and I don't think any of my family would ever let me live it down if I brought home a girl." His face scrunched up a bit, and he looked internally annoyed, but Valerie didn't question it. "But I'll see you around, right?"

"Yeah," she said slowly. She still had too many questions. She glanced over at him. "My dad works night shifts. So he'll be gone by six pm." Valerie took a deep breath. She couldn't believe she was offering this up. "Tomorrow do you wanna bring over your Dead Teacher movies and watch them at my place?" Phantom looked shocked at her offer, but he smiled.

"I'd like that. Just text me when he's off, and I can just fly on over," he replied. Valerie smiled in returning, giving a light nod. "I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow then for a second date." Valerie instantly soured.

"Don't push your luck," she threatened. Phantom snickered.

"Do I get a goodnight kiss before I go?" he joked.

"I can give you a kapow right in the kisser," she scowled. Phantom just laughed. She found herself giving a small, joking smirk. "You know you were doing really well up until now." Phantom pouted.

"Aw, man. Maybe next time," he teased.

"Don't threaten me," she replied dryly, rolling her eyes but kept her smile. She waved a hand as she began to walk towards her apartment building by herself. She glanced behind her to see Phantom duck into an alley. Her attention went to the skies, and she noticed his form flying off. She sighed, hurrying up to her apartment. It was freezing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the summary a bit to better reflect the content of the story because somebody had pointed out to me in a conversation how the summary didn't really click with the plans I have for this

_Phantom had the fucking nerve to show up at my work, and he's...he's just so human. I don't understand. How can he be a ghost, but act so human? Feel so human? Have such human hobbies and interests and just? I mean...I can understand, and I hate it. He was alive, once. But he's not anymore._

_We stayed up all night. He actually didn't leave until like, twenty minutes before my dad was supposed to be home. It was...not bad. The movies he picked out weren't even that bad. I learned so many things about him too. He loves space, and he used to draw before ghost hunting took up a lot of his time. He's created his own program for keeping track of the ghosts he fights, and he even helped me fix one of my blasters. I had no clue he was...such an engineer. He claims he got it from his parents._

_Why does he have to be like this? Why does he have to do this to me? Why am I relating to him so much? Just…why? Some of the things he said, I just can't help but wonder more and more about what I'm getting into and what kind of game this ghost is playing._

* * *

Valerie was going through the motions, mind blank as she rung up another customer, handing him a cup as she rapid-fired pressed the buttons of his order.

"Four fifty-two," she replied, handing back change. The customer thanked her, and the line continued. She could see the line of the long lunch rush nearly ending, and she felt an internal sigh of relief. Another customer came up to the counter, and she blinked in surprise, but beamed happily. "Hey, Dani. What can I get you?"

Dani, in her human form, smiled happily up at her. She wasn't in the hoodie and red shorts she had last seen her in, but a pair of old blue jeans and an oversized NASA hoodie.

"Hi Val!" she chirped. "Can I get a number four and a number eight with an extra side of fries, and uh...a baked potato with a large soda? Please?" Valerie nodded, punching in the order.

"Ten sixty-five," she reported to her. Dani frowned at the money in her hand.

"Danny, I need another dollar," she pleaded, and Valerie's heart immediately dropped. The customer she had just helped was filling up his soda cup. Familiar green eyes glanced over, tuffs of white hair poking out from the same black beanie as yesterday. In a different Dumpty Humpty band shirt with a jacket covering up half the logo and dark blue jeans. He quickly came over, pulling a dollar out from his pocket to put on the counter. Valerie was frozen in place, her knees shaking. She hadn't...even noticed...that she had just served Phantom. "Thank you!" Dani snatched it up before presenting Valerie with eleven dollars. She forced her customer service smile, accepting it.

"H-here's your change and receipt, we'll call the number on your order when it's ready," she said, trembling a bit. Dani smiled, accepting the coins and receipt, as well as a cup. She hopped over to her cousin, handing him the change. Valerie stared long enough to watch Phantom pocket the change before playfully ruffling her hair. She scowled, pushing him as he was finishing filling up his soda cup. She swallowed before forcing herself to attend to other customers.

How often had he done that? She had seen Phantom before in his little disguise and had completely missed him. How often had she done that? How often was he sitting just a seat away at the mall food court or only an isle away picking up something from the store? Her worst fears were true, and she felt sick to her stomach.

Her co-worker soon called Phantom and Dani's order numbers as he put them on the counter. To-go. Thank god. Valerie didn't have to see them sit and eat, mocking her for having missed the obvious.

"Geez, how much did you order?" Phantom teased Dani, picking up his bag of food, as well as one of hers. Dani grinned.

"Not enough!" she declared. Phantom glanced into his bag.

"Excuse me," he spoke up. Thankfully, her co-worker came to his aid, allowing Valerie to continue working the register and avoid interaction. "May I have some ketchup?" Her co-worker gave him a handful.

"Shoulda asked Valerie," Dani teased him. Phantom immediately flushed red, nudging her with his hip.

"Shut up," he scowled.

"Oh that's right, Sa-Sarah will get jealous if you talk to her," she continued to tease. Phantom rolled his eyes, and to Valerie's relief, immediately went for the door, holding it open for Dani to trail him. They left, and Valerie rang up the last customer. She was going to kill Phantom.

* * *

Valerie sat on her couch, staring blankly at the TV. Her dad had left an hour ago, but she had only found the motivation to text Phantom a half hour ago.

A knock came at her door, and Valerie shot it a dirty look, sighing heavily.

"Ph-DP, you can come in," she called out.

Phantom phased through the door, a stack of movies under his arm. He was, to her surprise, in casual attire still. She stared at him, goosebumps rising. God, why did he have to show off how human he could look? It pissed her off, and she glared at him. Phantom seemed oblivious as he came over to her eagerly, looking at all of his DVDs.

"I got all of the Dead Teachers, and I also went ahead and grabbed a few others, like Zombie Princess," Phantom was babbling on about horror movies. He soon stopped, and he looked up at her, noticing her look. "Uh...what?" Valerie scowled, and she slid off the couch onto the floor.

"So, who's Sarah?" Valerie questioned. Phantom's face twisted up.

"A friend," he replied shortly. Valerie raised an eyebrow at him, and she patted the floor next to her. He obliged, and he took the seat.

"From what Dani said, she sounded like more than that," Valerie pressed. Phantom chuckled.

"What, jealous?" he teased. Valerie scowled and slapped his shoulder with the back of her hand, causing a brief laugh. "Easy, Red. Sa-Sarah's...she's one of my best friends." Phantom didn't look at her, and it raised Valerie's suspicions.

"Is that all?" she continued to press, and Phantom let out a long, deep sigh.

"Do you want the whole story or just the short version?"

"Whole story," she said immediately. Phantom cleared his throat a bit awkwardly, looking down at his hands.

"So, Sarah and I have been best friends since like, forever. She's one of my closest friends. Has been for years. She's like another sister to me. She's...she's family. But she doesn't see me like that," Phantom began. "And nobody else sees us like that either."

"What do you mean?" Phantom shrugged, and he leaned back against the couch.

"They think I'm dumb and clueless, that I don't notice things, but I do. I know Sarah likes me, as in, she wants her and I to be boyfriend-girlfriend. But I just...I don't. I don't like her like that. I tried to show the affection back, I tried to like her too, give it a shot, but it just always feels so awkward and forced. She's never told me explicitly that she likes me, and so I've been just kind of...trying to play it off, ya know? Hope it dies without making a rejection awkward."

"Then why force it?" Valerie questioned. She leaned her shoulder against the couch, watching him intently.

"Because everybody else thinks we're just meant to be. Soulmates, the IT couple, whatever. All of our mutual friends, my old classmates, my enemies, strangers on the street. Even my own parents," Phantom spat the last part out, a bit bitter. Valerie took note that he said old classmates. So he was in school at one point.

"Your parents think so too?" she questioned, her voice softening. That had to be...rough. Phantom's face scrunched up again.

"The first and only time I went to my dad for relationship advice, despite me constantly telling him about this other girl I really liked and wanted to be with, he explicitly kept talking about Sarah and I and how I can ask Sarah out. Then he gave me his class ring to give to her, but he already had Sarah's name fucking engraved on it." Phantom bit his lower lip hard. "I...I actually ended up getting rejected. When I told Sarah about it because god. I liked this girl so much, and I was so upset, she was _happy_ that I got rejected. Probably because it meant I was now suddenly free to just fucking get together with her." His entire mood soured, and Valerie winced. God. That sounded almost as bad as the prep crowd she used to hang with. Only, at least her dad was incredibly supportive.

"She sounds like a bad friend," Valerie said quietly. Phantom shook his head.

"No. She's a great friend, and I know she's been a great girlfriend for others. She's just not a great girlfriend for me," Phantom explained. "I can't even begin to explain how supportive she's been through my entire...ya know, death. And how much she's helped me, the late nights she's spent studying to help me keep grades up, all the injuries she's fixed, excuses she's made for my absent at places. I love Sarah, with all my heart, but I love her like I love my sister, ya know? And...we got into a fight over it."

"You told her this?" the huntress questioned. Phantom made a so-so motion with his hand.

"She hates you," he replied bluntly. He chuckled at Valerie's startled expression. "I know, shocker. My friend hates the huntress who hunts her ghost friend," he joked. Oh yeah. That. "And she's been ragging on me so bad since I asked you out about how stupid and suicidal it was." Valerie snorted in amusement.

"She's not wrong, it was stupid and suicidal," she pointed out. Phantom grinned.

"I'm still here, and you said yes," he pointed out. She made a face at him. "But I...kinda told her to just stop it. We had an argument that just kind of exploded into a full blown fight. She finally said that she liked me, that she wanted to be with me and that I didn't have to do this with you, and...I rejected her. And she got so upset. I've, I've actually never seen her that upset. I rarely see her cry, and she cried. I felt so bad. She got mad at me for rejecting her and not liking her like that, and we didn't talk for a while."

"Are you two okay now?"

"Uh, yes and no," he said hesitantly. "We're talking again, but it's still a bit awkward. It's just going to take some time for things to get back to normal." Valerie was quiet for a moment.

"So, why me and not her?" she asked.

"That's a loaded question," Phantom accused lightly. Valerie just smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, let me rephrase it," she clarified. "Why give me a shot over her? I know you've said that I get it, but Sarah's so supportive, and she's already been there for you."

"Sarah's supportive, but she doesn't...she doesn't truly get what sacrifices I'm making," he replied, and he leaned his head against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "Despite it all, Sarah's still a straight A honor roll student who gets a full night's rest, and she has other life advantages that keep her ahead of the curve. Sarah can one day _leave_ Amity Park if she wants. I...I can't. I have a moral responsibility for this place. Even if I somehow have the grades to go to college...I have to go here. I have to stay. I can never pursue the dreams I've had since childhood or the ambitions I worked so hard for in middle school because I'm...I'm _stuck_ here. She's not. And it doesn't help that she gives me shit if I want to, god forbid, have any fun with my powers and enjoy one of the few perks of being h-dead. She doesn't know how badly my body hurts from the stress and injuries of ghost-fighting, how I'm still recovering from things that happened _months_ ago. Even with superpowered healing, I'm still in pain. My sister keeps nagging at me to see a doctor because sometimes it just hurts too much to wake up in the morning. She's worried lately because I have this chronic pain in my left knee ever since it basically got crushed in this fight I had with the Lunch Lady almost eight months ago."

With every word Phantom spoke, a sinking weight sank deeper and deeper into Valerie's stomach. They all rung too true for her. Too true that she couldn't muster the energy to be angry. She glanced at her left hand, opening and closing it slowly. While she was thankfully right handed...she had injured that hand months ago, broken it. It still hurt to make a fist sometimes. She moved to stared at him instead of her old injury, almost in awe. Phantom continued to look up at the ceiling.

"I hide so much from my family," he continued, his voice deathly quiet. Valerie's heart began to twist. "I hide so much from everybody. I have this whole other identity that nobody knows about. I'm essentially living two lives, and it feels like almost everybody is disappointed in me in both lifes."

"...I know too well what you mean." Phantom shifted to look at her, giving a half-smile.

"If it means anything...you're doing really great," he told her. "You go to school, work part time, and hunt ghosts. I don't work, I'm just school and ghosts. I can't imagine adding a job into the mix." Valerie felt an odd sense of pride, and she smiled back.

"Well...to be fair, you do a lot more ghost hunting than me. And...you do seem to do a lot to fight the ghosts off," she admitted. Phantom smiled warmly back.

"Thanks." Her mind raced to his mini rant the day prior, how he talked of how he fucked up so much. "And that's why I just...why I like you. You _get_ it."

Her stomach twisted into knots. So that's what he had meant yesterday. Why was everything he saying...just ringing so true and familiar? They had- _NO!_ She had nothing in common with a ghost! God, why was she even here? Why was she even sitting on the floor like an idiot with this ghost who ruined her life, on a weird ass pseudo date in her apartment?

She watched Phantom lean forward to begin picking out a movie from the pile that he brought. He broke into an excited grin as he poured over the selection.

"What do you want to watch first?" he asked.

"...Whatever you want," she replied, and she pulled herself to her feet. "I'll make...popcorn. Want any?" No. You shouldn't. You shouldn't need to eat, so why do you? 'It makes me feel human.'

"Sure! Please!" Valerie just nodded wordlessly and took the chance to escape into the kitchen.

She threw popcorn into the microwave with shaky hands. She leaned against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest. Why was she shaking? Why was she so worked up? It's just Phantom. Just...Phantom.

Valerie glanced at Phantom. He looked as if he was debating between two movies before finally picking one. He cradled it to his chest as he was seemingly waiting for her. The ghost took his phone out and began to scroll. She shivered. Ghosts had to do this all the time when not out attacking Amity Park, so why was the sight of Phantom doing it bothering her?

She froze. There had to be thousands of ghosts. Not all of them went to Amity Park. So...what did they do with their free time?

They...probably were doing very human things. Like...going to the movies with friends, playing video games.

Her stomach sank. The microwave beeped, and she snapped out of it long enough to grab a bowl. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she emptied the bag into the bowl.

"Hey, DP, do you want a drink?" Valerie questioned, glancing over. Phantom had went to begin putting the DVD into her DVD player, but had froze when she spoke. He glanced at her.

"Do you have any Mountain Dew?" he asked. Valerie made a face. Gross.

"Unfortunately," she replied. She didn't care for it, but her dad loved it. She grabbed a can for her guest and a can of Dr. Pepper for herself. This ghost will never cease to amaze her.


	8. Chapter 8

Her blaster sounding off was only barely audible over the sounds of the citizens of Amity Park screaming. As they should be.

Valerie glanced down at the fleeing crowd that was trying to quickly flee the mall. They were in such a panic. A few kept glancing up at her, and she felt her stomach turn a bit in worry. They relied on her to get this done.

She stared ahead at the ghost causing destruction. A familiar face, but one she never put a name to. What was the point in speaking to an enemy or learning their name? What did it matter if they were dead and unresearchable anyway? She shot at the ghost again. Two hit his back, another missing. She growled, and she took better aim before firing again. It hit him before the ghost was tackled by Phantom.

The huntress shifted her weight on her board, zooming towards the too, continuing to fire. Phantom and the ghost were too entangled for her to get a clear shot. She growled, her finger on the trigger. Why did she even care if she accidentally hit him? He was a ghost too.

A ghost that was...oddly human.

Her attention went to the people on the ground, continuing to yell and run. A few were snapping photos, stupidly enough. Idiots. Run!

Her mind snapped out of her brief trance as Phantom slammed into her. She flew off her board, falling with him down to the ground. The flipped in the air, and she felt the air being punched out of her stomach as she hit Phantom. His back caused a crack from colliding into a bench and trashcan.

"What the fuck!" Valerie wheezed.

"Pay attention!" he scowled, coughing a bit.

"There's so many people here," she said quickly, glancing around as she felt her board smack against her side, having snapped back to her. It was a handy tool. "You gotta get them out of here."

"I gotta deal with the ghost!" Phantom protested. He was giving her a dirty look. She shot one back as she stood up. She looked around and quickly assessed the situation.

There were so many people taking cover in the stores. People were still trying to leave in a frantic mob of confusion and fright. The ghost was causing a lot of collateral damage, practically flinging anything anywhere with no worries or cares in the world.

"You can get them out of here faster, and you can protect them better," she argued. "You can phase them out. Just-just go with it, okay! I can handle the ghost!" Phantom's dirty look turned into an annoyingly bright smile as he stood up too. He sent an ecto-blast at the ghost.

"So you're saying you trust me to evacuate the mall?" he asked. Valerie wanted to deck him.

"Yes! So stop standing around and get your butt in gear!" The huntress grabbed his shoulder, turning him around towards a crowd. She kneed him in the lower back to get going, and he fumbled forward as he threw his hands up in surrender.

"I'm going, I'm going!"

Phantom took off towards a crowd, and Valerie focused her attention on the ghost. She narrowed her eyes at it, and she held up her blaster again. She fired at it as she jumped onto her board once more, flying towards it.

The ghost focused its attention on her, and growled as it blasted at her. She dodged it, firing back. A miss, a counterattack. Valerie shifted to move her board down, maneuvering around the ghost in a circle as she fired rapidly. The ghost howled in pain as he got hit, and it stared at her closely before lunging.

Valerie hurriedly moved her board up, using the bottom of it as a shield. The ghost smashed into it, and she felt her feet slip off. Despite her heart racing, she ignored it and took fire again. Her board always came back.

She felt arms wrap around her waist, and a jerk as her fall halted. She immediately knew it was Phantom, and she ignored it, continuing to shoot again. Her shots missed, and she squirmed a bit in Phantom's grasp.

"You sure you got this?" Phantom questioned.

"Yeah, throw me back up, my board will catch me," she told him.

"I got most of the mall cleared out. The people who didn't take cover in a store, I should say," Phantom told her. One of his hands shot up to blast at the ghost as it zoomed for him. Valerie was a bit stunned. Already? "I'll come back in a bit to throw this guy back into the Ghost Zone."

"I have a thermos, I can handle this," she replied. "Get the people out of the mall completely."

"Sounds good." Phantom lightly shifted to tap her knee with a finger. She bent her leg up, putting her foot in his hand. "I trust you to kick his ass."

"I could do it in my sleep," Valerie bragged with a smirk, and Phantom chuckled. He let go over her, tossing her back up.

As predicted, her board shot back to her, and she landed on it, granted a bit wobbly, but stable enough to immediately zoom after the ghost.

"I've had enough of you," she growled, and she reached into her backpack. She pulled out a sticky bomb, and she chucked it at the ghost.

It hit their chest, and they stared down at it. Valerie immediately pressed a button on her arm. The ghost's eyes widened as a loud boom filled the mall, and the ghost was thrown back. Valerie felt her hoverboard jerk back with force, and she held her arms out to balance herself.

The ghost laid still on the floor, and she reached into her bag. She pulled out a red thermos, and she opened it and began to suck the ghost up inside of it.

"Wow, wasn't that a bit overkill?"

Valerie glanced behind her to see Phantom hovering nearby. He was staring at the spot where the ghost had landed before looking back to her. She shrugged her shoulders, tucking the container back into her bag.

"It was just a ghost," she said dismissively. Almost instantly, she regretted saying that. Another look at her temporary partner made her feel oddly a bit guilty. "Did you get everybody out?"

"Yeah," Phantom embraced the subject change. "They're all out. Media and cops will likely be here soon." Valerie gave a small hum of agreement as she turned fully to face him.

He had his arms crossed over his chest, and he didn't meet her gaze. He had a light frown on his face, biting his lip as he seemed to be figuring out what to say. She stayed where she was, standing on her board. She awkwardly coughed.

"Do you wanna go get a burger?" she asked. Phantom finally looked at her, and he gave a small nod.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

"You want the grossest milkshakes," Valerie informed him as she held his order out to him. Phantom grinned as he took the milkshake and bag of food from her.

"You just haven't ever given a triple chocolate fudge with bacon and salsa a shot," he accused her. She wrinkled her nose up in disgust as she took a seat next to him on the roof of the office building across the street from the Nasty Burger.

"I don't need to, none of those things go to together," she argued.

She let her suit's helmet down as she set her bag to the side. She got her milkshake, a vanilla with Oreo cookies, undoing the straw. She put it to her lips and blew it at Phantom, the projectile hitting his temple. Phantom immediately laughed, grabbing the paper and tossing it over the side of the building. He grabbed his own straw, ripping part of the wrapper off and making the motion. Valerie immediately winced but smiled, holding her hand up to catch it.

"You're no fun," he complained, putting the straw down. Valerie let her hand drop so she could put the straw in her drink. A straw wrapper hit her in the nose.

"You're a cheater," she said, lightly pushing him. Phantom snickered as he put his straw into his milkshake. He took a long drink before making an exaggerated, pleased noise.

"It's so good," he loudly exclaimed. "You sure you don't want a taste?"

"Hell no!"

"Come on, I don't have ghost cooties," Phantom insisted. He held the drink up to her lips. Valerie lightly swatted it away and took a drink of her own milkshake. Phantom shrugged and began to dig into his bag for his burger. "So, about earlier."

"Yeah?" Valerie glanced at him as she unwrapped her burger, taking a bite.

Phantom had unwrapped his burger, but he let it sit on his lap as he stared at it for a while. Valerie took a bite while she waited for him to speak. The ghost cleared his throat before continuing.

"When you did the...thing to the ghost. Did you really feel like that?" he asked. Valerie raised an eyebrow at him as she swallowed her bite.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"When you basically destroyed that ghost, like, you just, I dunno, blew it up. And you kind of implied that you didn't care because it was just a ghost."

"...Kind of," she admitted. "I don't know anymore. Lots of ghosts are just ghosts. They're just these undead things coming back to destroy us, cause havoc and destruction and hurting us. But then there's just, so much that I've been finding out and learning. You alone are some weird, oddball entity that I can't figure out."

"Gee, thanks," Phantom replied sarcastically. He took a huge bite of his burger. Valerie rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean," she grumbled. "But between you and Dani and Vlad, I just. I don't know what to think anymore." Phantom paused, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Vlad?" he asked. She made a face at him for talking with his mouth full. He quickly swallowed. "What about Vlad?"

"Vlad Masters is Vlad Plasmius," she told him. "I found out when I saw him change. I went back to help him, after we freed Dani. He was still in the closet, and I went to help him, and I found out…" She exhaled harshly. "I was so fucking pissed. I can't believe I ever trusted him."

"...I'm sorry," Phantom replied. She shot him a glare.

"You knew, didn't you." It wasn't a question. Phantom winced.

"Yeah. I did."

Valerie nearly threw her burger off the roof. She settled for slamming it back into her bag.

"You KNEW and didn't tell me!?"

"What the hell did you want me to tell you?" Phantom asked. "Vlad Masters is also a dangerous ghost? He's this ghost-human hybrid? You wouldn't even talk to me one on one in any kind of decent conversation, let alone would probably let me sit and give you a slideshow presentation on what a sketchy dude this guy is. Not to mention that he'd destroy me and my family for revealing such things about him. He's already tried to kill my dad, kidnapped my mom and held my sister hostage." Valerie's stomach flipped a bit, and she slumped a bit.

"I know, I know, you're right," she reluctantly admitted. "I just feel like a fool for not knowing, or noticing, or suspecting." She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder.

"Halfas keep their private lives very hidden for specific reasons," he replied softly as he let go of her. "People finding out is such a nightmare scenario. You risk losing family and friends, your own life to a dissection table. You can risk your own family turning against you, turning you in or just outright disowning you. It's a very scary existence. It's also just something you'd never think about. To be both alive and dead...Heh, kind of makes you a freak."

Something about that struck a chord with her. She had no clue why, but an odd feeling came over her. A feeling of knowing.

"Dani and Vlad are both so...different," she told him. "Vlad's obviously a bad guy, and I wish I could say it's because he's got that half ghost in him. But then I look at Dani, and I can't rationalize to myself that she's evil too. She's...she's just a kid. And she did save me when I first met her."

"She did?" Phantom sounded surprised, and she glanced to see him smiling like a dork. "I'm proud of her."

"You should be," Valerie told him with a small smile. "She seems like a good kid. It's probably the human in her." She fished her burger back out to take a bite.

"No, it's because she's Danielle," Phantom corrected her. "And Vlad's...well like that because he's Vlad. Ghosts are like humans, Red. We come in shades of gray, morally and personality. We're unique and different, but we just happen to be dead and have supernatural abilities."

Phantom picked up his milkshake and bag of food. He shifted to stand up on the edge.

"Anyway, I'm gonna bounce. Got some stuff to do," he told her with a light sigh. Valerie raised an curious eyebrow.

"Like what?" she wondered. Phantom shot her a smile.

"English paper," he told her as he took a step off. He fell a bit before she saw his form beginning to fly off into the distance. She narrowed her eyes against the setting sun's glare, trying to pinpoint his direction, but she couldn't shake some of her uneasiness. She too, had an English paper to write.


End file.
